Permanent police foot patrols to begin in Main South

Sunday

May 26, 2013 at 8:00 AMMay 26, 2013 at 10:10 PM

By Scott J. Croteau, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Permanent foot patrols in the Main South area of the city will begin by the end of the week as the Police Department continues to re-evaluate the deployment of resources and how they are best used.

The announcement comes roughly a week after the department moved officers from the Traffic Division into the Patrol Division and also created an accident investigation and reconstruction unit. A captain was also moved into the Service Division to oversee things there.

Main South had foot patrols at the beginning of the year on a temporary basis. The area also had foot patrols from Dec. 1, 2011, to Sept. 1, 2012, with a $720,000 overtime budget price tag.

Police Chief Gary J. Gemme said when 17 new officers graduated in April, officials were able to review the entire organization, deal with staffing issues within certain divisions and look at other services.

While the department continues to focus on violent crime and firearms, Chief Gemme said quality-of-life issues remain a major piece of the department's split-force model.

"We hear over and over again from the community and elected officials that they want foot patrols and traffic enforcement," Chief Gemme said. Now that officers have been moved into the Patrol Division to focus on traffic, the chief said, the department can add foot patrols.

"I believe we have the resources to establish a permanent foot patrol in the Main South area," he said.

Having foot patrols through the Community Impact Division is just part of good community policing, the chief said. Foot patrols help police establish relationships with people in a neighborhood and give the area a visible police presence.

The Main South foot patrols will be done with on-duty personnel. The past foot patrols were funded through overtime, which the chief said would be too costly to do with the new permanent patrols.

Once the permanent foot patrols in Main South are established, the department will look at other areas in the city. The chief said lower Grafton, Vernon, Providence and Pleasant streets are all areas being reviewed.

Chief Gemme said the Main South foot patrols will be done on varied days and times in order to not be predictable.

A new recruit class is being planned with a prospective 2014 graduation date. The addition of more officers would allow the department to add more permanent foot patrols, the chief said.